Expanding Your Perceptions: Misunderstood Minds http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodminds/ will allow you the opportunity to understand the struggles that a student might experience. During this online experience, you will spend approximately thirty minutes for two of the four topics (Attention, Reading, Writing, and Mathematics). Complete the simulations for each selected topic and respond in the course blog.

Reflection Prompt: Misunderstood Minds provides educators (and others) an opportunity to gain insight to students who have difficulties in the classroom. What feelings came up during these experiences? What would have supported your success? What might a student with limited coping skills feel when in this position each day at school? What insights can you share about the difficulty and possible strategies could be in place to ensure access to the curriculum and instruction to improve skills?

Norms for educational blog writing: It is important to set the atmosphere for our online blogging as we will be sharing insight, personal perspectives, and past experiences. For some, you may be well versed in posting images, responding to others, and navigating a strong online presence, but for others sharing your professional voice may be new. 1. Assume good intentions. Participants want to support and communicate to engage and learn.2. What we share matters and may leave us vulnerable. Trust that our classmates will keep us safe as we share and explore topics in special education.3. We are not only responsible for our own learning, but the learning of our classmates. Share your knowledge, experience, and perspective.4. Ask, question, share, and reflect.5. Reread your post/response before posting to ensure you have communicated well and can be understood.

When doing the simulations for students with attention disorders, I felt positive and confident when the activities began, and then very rapidly, once the different distractions started I gave up on the tasks very quickly because I knew I had already fallen too far behind to catch up or do the task correctly. If I was a child who had limited coping skills, and I was experiencing these feelings I would act disruptive or destructive because I felt inadequate, embarrassed, or frustrated. If I was the child who was experiencing auditory distractions it would have helped me to have a written copy of the directions to follow along with so that I could check and monitor my progress. If I was the child with the visual distractions, I think it would have helped to have extended time (with breaks if needed), to have time to discuss the reading with a partner, or to have brightly colored text so that it would have stood out from the changing pictures and would therefore have been easier for me to focus on. All of the strategies listed above can be put in place to ensure students with attention disorders can access the curriculum.

When doing the simulations for students with a mathematics disability I felt confident in the beginning of the two simulations where we had to use the charts to help us complete more complex math problems, and where we had to follow a sequence of simple steps to solve a problem. I knew that I could solve each part of the problem but after two steps, without writing my work down I became frustrated, and started second guessing myself because I could not recall or check my work. This made me redo parts of the problem until I became frustrated and I gave up on checking my work. During the visualization task I didn’t understand the whole question so I guessed. If I was a child who had limited coping skills, and was experiencing these feeling, as stated before, I would likely act disruptive or destructive because I felt inadequate, embarrassed, or frustrated. What would have helped me with these problems would have been to have tools to write down and show my work (explicitly taught strategies, and physical materials), time for breaks between tasks or problems, and resources that I could have referenced to help me understand all the language that was being used. All of the strategies listed above can be put in place to ensure students with mathematics disabilities can access the curriculum.

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Janine Steinhauser

7/4/2017 04:38:16 pm

Elizabeth,
While I was completing the attention disorders simulation, I felt the same exact way that you did. I agree that extended time, and discussing the readings with a partner would be very beneficial to a student with visual distractions. All of the strategies you listed for students with mathematical disabilities will ensure that the students are not feeling frustrated and defeated by the problems. I really enjoyed reading your reflections!

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Sarah Morgenthaler

7/6/2017 08:20:02 am

Elizabeth,
I felt the same way you did when completing the attention simulations. Until you experience what your students have to face on a daily basis you have no idea the hardships that they really go through in class. I think as educators, we need to be prepared to offer them breaks, hands on materials and other tools that will make them feel comfortable in completing any task.

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Tory Small

7/7/2017 02:41:43 pm

Elizabeth, I can definitely relate to the frustrations during the attention based activities. I agree with allowing extended time, having written directions, and working with a partner, however it might be even more distracting to have brightly colored text. I think that working with a partner or small group instruction would really help this student feel more adequate and less frustrated.

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Brianna Normile

7/9/2017 10:21:56 am

Elizabeth, I also felt confident at the beginning of the simulations, but soon realized I shouldn't have been! I also think it would have been beneficial with extra time or breaks when needed. I had one student with ADHD this year and I would often check in with him for when he needed a break. It was extremely helpful for him to know he could have a break when needed.

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Yan Li Xu

7/11/2017 09:49:04 am

Hi Elizabeth,
When I was trying to complete the task, I felt the same way you did. I started with confidence that I can complete the task but I just got frustrated and overwhelmed at the end of it. I like the strategies you came up with to help students with these tasks. I think it is definitely important to have breaks for the student so they won’t feel overwhelmed.

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Sara Cane

7/11/2017 10:28:48 pm

Elizabeth,
I too did the stimulations for attention disorders and felt much of the same way as you did. I felt confidence in the beginning, but was quickly overwhelmed with being unable to perform well. I also gave up during the exercises which was a terrible feeling. I like your idea for bright colored text and believe it could be very beneficial.

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Janine Steinhauser

7/4/2017 04:11:15 pm

Hi, my name is Janine Steinhauser. I just started the 14-month full-time IESE program. My internship will be at Horace-Mann Elementary in a 5th grade co-taught classroom in Newton starting this fall.

I began with the basics of attention section and completed the reading with distractions stimulation. Before starting, I felt pretty confident that I would be able to successfully read even with distractions. I immediately felt distracted, and overwhelmed once the distractions began. I was unable to focus long enough to read the passage and then after a few seconds the passage completely disappeared, and I was expected to answer questions about it. I answered 2/3 questions correctly but I did so using prior knowledge and educated guesses. I believe that a student with limited coping skills would feel overwhelmed, upset, and unsuccessful. In order to ensure that student skills are improving, teachers should take into account outside noises and distractions that might be occurring during a lesson. For example, teachers should take into account the birds chirping, lawns being mowed, fire truck sirens and other sounds that might be distracting students.

The next stimulation was listening to directions in order to complete an activity. At the very beginning, the teacher stated that the directions would only be said once and to listen carefully. After a few seconds, the other students in the classroom starting talking, and making loud noises. I kept getting distracted and sometimes couldn’t even hear the teacher’s directions. It was extremely hard to follow the directions and my end product looked nothing like it was supposed to. I felt annoyed and very frustrated. If a student had limited coping skills, she would most likely feel aggravated, unproductive, and defeated. It would be beneficial for the teacher to pause while giving the directions once she noticed that the classroom was getting loud. In order to ensure all students are getting their needs met, the teacher should repeat the directions more than once and should have printed directions for students to refer to.

The next topic I completed was the basics of reading. I began with experiencing a decoding difficulty stimulation about recognizing phonemes. I felt as if I started off very strong and confident. However, I quickly began to lose steam after the first two sentences. I became overwhelmed and unable to follow the translation key. A student with limited coping skills would completely shut down if faced with this problem. A teacher should help the student by breaking the passage into smaller chunks and stopping the student when he becomes frustrated.

The last stimulation was about retention and remembering what is being read. I started to read the passage and then within seconds, the sentences began disappearing. I had to start reading quickly, and knew I wasn’t retaining any of the information. I luckily answered 2/3 questions correctly but I guessed on all of them. A student with restricted coping skills would feel unmotivated to complete the work due to lack of confidence. Passages should be broken up into smaller sections and reading strategies should be reviewed, in order for the student to feel confident enough to retain information and successfully answer comprehension questions.

Janine,
I felt the same way you did during both simulations. You mentioned students feeling unmotivated to complete their work due to lack of confidence. I can see how students are aware of their learning strategies and can look different from their peers. Noticing the differences can have an impact on their learning abilities. All students should feel that they can accomplish anything they put their mind too. Teachers should be able to modify any work for a student to succeed. Breakout spaces should be created in the classroom for students to go learn and do their work either independently or in small groups.

Elizabeth Watts

7/5/2017 07:25:30 pm

Janine,
As you stated before I see many of similarities between our reactions to the simulations that focused on attention disorders.
When you reflected on the reading simulation I think your reference to a lack on confidence is very important and valuable. Students with special needs can often lack confidence, which can hinder their learning more. So as educators we need to remember that when teaching all students (but especially students with special needs, we need to teach them strategies to help develop their confidence.

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Sam Sinotte

7/6/2017 07:35:42 am

Janine,
I had the same feelings of confidence prior to leading up to the decoding simulation. I did not think it would be that difficult, and that I would be able to use context and educated guesses to figure out what I was reading. But like you, I quickly lost my confidence and shut down completely. It was difficult and time consuming to keep referring to the translation key, and I felt to overwhelmed to keep going.

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Lily Chase-Lubitz

7/7/2017 11:57:00 am

Janine,

I completely empathize with your feelings regarding these simulations. Like you, I began these activities confidently. Very quickly however, I lost both confidence and motivation. I also felt extremely frustrated. As I discuss in my blog post, I have always been a confident reader and therefore was not especially worried before I began these activities. When I could not complete the simulations I grew more and more frustrated with myself and ultimately guessed the answers to the majority of the questions asked.

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Sarah Morgenthaler

7/5/2017 08:12:47 pm

Hi, my name is Sarah Morgenthaler. I just started the 14 month IESE program. I will be starting my internship in the fall at Horace Mann Elementary in Newton. My placement will will be in a 4th grade co-taught classroom.

When completing the simulations for students with attention disorders, I felt pretty confident and told myself, how hard could this be. Little did I know, I soon became distracted, frustrated and was loosing focus fast. Lights were beaming in and out, sentences were disappearing and kids were screaming. A lot was going on all at the same time.

After going through these simulations, I was finally able to understand why kids might be disruptive or need more attention during whole classroom lessons. I would do my best to keep a controlled class and I might even have a few students work separately from the group. I might even pull a few students later on and reteach them. During the lesson, If I saw a few kids struggling I might have them pause and take a break, remove themselves from the whole lesson and take their work to the back table. I would also do my best to keep the class focused and quiet. To help any student with an attention disorder, I would allow them to use approved fidgets and for them to find a comfortable working spot. I would make sure they understood what they needed to do before and after the lesson as well. I might also make a deal with the student, if he or she can complete even half the work they can take a break and or read. There would be a set time for how long this break would need to be before they return to their work.

When completing the simulations for students with reading disorders, I again felt comfortable, but found myself loosing focus and having a hard time understanding what I was reading. If I was feeling this way for just a few minutes, I can’t imagine what a student with a reading disorder feels when he or she needs to read ANYTHING. In the classroom, I would allow my student to preview any readings that we might be doing that day. I might print out the readings in a bigger font, and offer a screen reader as well. If we were doing independent reading, I might allow the student to use the computer where he or she could follow along to someone else reading. During other times throughout the day, I might allow the student to use Lexia which is a reading program that engages and motivates students.

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Elizabeth Watts

7/6/2017 07:09:02 am

Sarah,
I liked when you talked about how you got distracted during the reading simulation because it was difficult. This is interesting to me because it can be difficult to differentiate between attention disorders and other disabilities that can present as an attention disorder.

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Janine Steinhauser

7/6/2017 07:22:23 am

Sarah,

I felt the same exact way that you did during both of the simulations. It was easy to go into the exercise feeling very confident! However, I was very wrong. I like how you talked about allowing students to take a break (when needed), and to have flexible seating around your classroom. I also like how you mentioned re-teaching a lesson, which can be very crucial for some students!

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Sam Sinotte

7/6/2017 07:39:58 am

Sarah,
I like how you mentioned the need for a break if you saw students struggling. Instead of having students work through their struggles and frustration, it makes more sense to allow them the opportunity to cool down first before the begin showing negative behaviors. I like the idea of a back table that they can access where there are less distractions, and the teacher can help that individual student one on one.

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Tory Small

7/7/2017 02:45:59 pm

Sarah, I can definitely relate to the attention based activities and how it helped me understand why some students are disruptive and need more attention. Pulling students to reteach is a great idea and I think would really benefit them. I can also relate to the reading activities and how frustrating they were. I think that allowing students to preview the readings is a great idea and would help the student have more confidence when the whole class is going over a text.

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Brianna Normile

7/9/2017 10:16:14 am

Sarah, I was also able to finally understand why my kids would get frustrated, distracted, or need a break during some instruction. I thought a lot about one of my developing readers in my class this year who had a very difficult time reading. I cannot imagine what he was going through everyday to get basic instruction.

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Sara Cane

7/11/2017 10:31:22 pm

Sarah,

I like your suggestion of letting the child preview their readings prior to class to help them in comprehending the text. I also think the technology suggestions were adequate too since there is so much support through these devices and programs for struggling readers.

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Sam Sinotte

7/6/2017 07:28:59 am

Reviewing the information on Misunderstood Minds, I got to see a glimpse into the disrupted learning process that students who have disabilities go throughout every day. While I was trying to decode the passage in the mindset of a student with a reading disability, I could not help but get anxious and frustrated, and was constantly rereading the passage and in the end, gave up entirely. Feelings of gratefulness that I did not struggle in school surfaced, but more importantly an awareness and sympathy for students who experience these difficulties every day. Reading the information presented on reading and math disabilities, I also felt a sense of reassurance. I feel that educators are more aware now that so many students face difficulties to learn, and that we are constantly creating new ways to support them. We are beginning to learn from mistakes previously made, and are working towards classrooms that do not help classes as a whole, but rather working more towards what each individual student needs.

I cannot identify exactly what caused my success in school. Looking back now, I can credit a lot of my success to my parents for pushing me do well in school, and being my biggest supporters. A lot of my elementary school teachers based their teaching on whole group instruction, and looking back now, I would have felt more supported in smaller group instruction that fit the areas of my own weaknesses. More of my struggles came from whole group instruction, as I was constantly comparing my frustration level, to the ease my classmates felt when present with a difficult concept for me to understand.

The initial reaction for most students who struggle is to avoid work altogether. They succeed in this by displaying negative behaviors, which results in them usually not having to complete their work. That anger and frustration that is directed towards their work, should not be a reflection on that student, but rather a clear indication that something is not right, and that something needs to change. The constant feeling of not being smart enough, or the insecurity that comes from comparing oneself to his/her peers can be damaging to a student’s self-esteem, and that can be carried on for the rest of that students’ academic career. Most younger students with disabilities do not have the skills to appropriately share their frustration, and often times may not even know what is wrong themselves.

Teachers and parents are at the front line in identifying and voicing any concerns with a student’s learning. Having a teacher who truly knows the student, and is aware that something is not right, is the first step in helping that student learn. Identifying the areas of concern, and then applying the instruction to fit the student is easier said than done. Although the access to strategies and best practice for interventions to help teach individual learning styles is easily accessible, the balancing act that a teacher performs makes it difficult to provide that individual student with the differentiated support that is required. Teachers are asked to do a lot, and getting support from other educators in a school to work with a student can help alleviate some of that pressure. Also, the constant implication of new strategies and gauging which strategies work, and which don’t, is important for determining how to best serve the student.

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Sarah Morgenthaler

7/6/2017 08:26:41 am

Sam,
I can relate to your learning habits 100%. I went to a private day school from Kindergarten to Eighth grade and then went on to a private High School. In both schools, they had tracks or levels. I was always placed in the lower tracks and I think it had to do with the smaller setting and the more individual attention we received. Even within my classes I was always feeling let a let down to myself, my peers and my parents. I still am a slow learner and I would rather take the time and really understand something than rush through my work. Although my friends never said oh you are in another class because you aren't smart like us, you could still feel the tension between everyone. This breakup especially in Elementary and Middle school really affected me. I did what I could in my classes to receive A's, but there were kids in my class who had learning disabilities and would act out. These actions would then fall back on us as a whole class.
I am happy to learn that teachers today, learn from their mistakes and try new teaching techniques. I think it is all about keep a safe learning environment in the classroom.

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Lily Chase-Lubitz

7/7/2017 12:08:23 pm

Sam,

I appreciate that you used these simulations to discuss your learning habits in school. While completing these activities, I kept thinking how fortunate I am to have not dealt with a disability in attention, reading, or writing; without a disability I was able to enjoy to these subjects in school. Interestingly, I avoid the one subject I do have a learning disability in, math, as much as possible. Not only does it frustrate me, but it also makes me feel anxious and embarrassed. Like you mention in your post, I think that if I had attended a school that had placed students on different tracks I might have had the opportunity to succeed in math. Because students of all different levels were in once classroom I kept falling more and more behind.

Lindsey Blackman

7/9/2017 12:10:54 pm

Sam,
I completely agree with you that for students who struggle with learning their immediate response would be to avoid their work. I like that you point out that many younger students do not have the skills to share their frustration and may not even know what is going on with themselves because it is so true. The frustration a student faces when trying to complete their work and learn can often be debilitating for a student. I think it is important for teachers to get to know their students so they can tell the difference between struggle and laziness and from there act accordingly. When assessing a student who might have a learning disability, it is crucial that teachers are aware of the student’s learning habits and behaviors in order to ensure the appropriate support is provided.

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Tory Small

7/7/2017 02:31:36 pm

When reading the basics of attention, I was excited to do the activity. I have had a few students with diagnosed ADHD and my younger brother has pretty severe ADHD as well. At the beginning of the first activity I felt confident, however, about a minute after starting the activity I got frustrated. I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I was actually unbelievably annoyed and didn’t know how it could be possible for someone to complete an activity with the passage disappearing off and on from the page successfully. The only thing I can think of to help support a student find success in this activity is to have the option to listen to an audio recording of the reading. If this was something that I coped with each day at school, I would be extremely frustrated, and probably eventually give up if I am not give tools to help me succeed. Possible strategies and accommodations are to allow the student extra time to read the passage, possibly use larger font, and allow access to an audio recording or read aloud of the passage and comprehension questions.

Before the second activity was was a bit anxious because I didn’t know what to expect. However, once it started I thought that it would be a breeze, but I was wrong. Once the chatter started I got very anxious and frustrated that I could not hear the instructions. If this happened everyday I again probably give up due to frustrations. Possible strategies that could be used are, noise cancelling headphones, printed out directions, the teacher modeling while giving the verbal directions, or maybe the students could work in partners in complete the activity.

After the two activities during the basics of attention section, I was nervous what the two activities in the basics of reading section would entail. The first activity was unbelievably frustrating and to be honest, I gave up due to frustration. If I was an elementary student working with this disability I would be so frustrated, confused, and annoyed every day at school. I would have very low self confidence and be embarrassed to read in front of my peers. Possible strategies could be enlarging the font, having a read aloud option for independent reading or testing, and small group instruction such as working with a reading specialist.

The final activity with the disappearing text was frustrating as well. It made me nervous, anxious, and annoyed. I felt so rushed to the point where I read so quickly that I wasn’t even comprehending the text I was reading. Again as a student this would be distracting, frustrating, and eventually lead to giving up. Possible strategies are similar to ones I have mentioned before, such as, a read aloud option, larger font, small group instruction, or having the reading projected onto the board for the entire class to benefit from.

I think students who struggle with the disabilities stimulated in these activities would all benefit from working with a reading specialist, small group instruction, and read aloud options. All of these accommodations can be written in a IEP or 504 plan and help students be successful and have a positive learning experience in the classroom.

I complete the attention activity because I felt confident in is too! Once I started each of the activities I starting getting frustrated because I couldn't focus on completing the activity. I can only image how difficult it is for students who has ADHD or an attention disorder to concentrate in class. In my previous classroom, my kids were constantly out of their seats, which is a visual distraction for anyone. I wonder how much of this visual distraction played a role with students who have an attention disability concentrating in class.

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Lily Chase-Lubitz

7/8/2017 06:15:16 am

Hi, my name is Lily Chase-Lubitz and I just began the 14-month full time IESE program. My internship will begin this fall at the Amos Lawrence School in Brookline. I am placed in a 1st grade classroom.

I began the Misunderstood Minds simulations confidently. Fortunately, I have not struggled with attention, reading, or writing disabilities and was therefore assured that I would perform well. I quickly realized my mistake. I began with the attention modules and after completing the visual activity I felt discouraged. In this activity I could barely finish the passage before the words disappeared completely. When I tried to answer the questions asked below, I could only answer one confidently. This was because the answer happened to be in the first line of the passage. I completely guessed the answers to the remaining questions. I then moved on to the auditory simulation and at first thought that I had grasped the activity. As soon as the other voices chimed in however, I could no longer focus on the teacher’s voice and missed many of her instructions. This resulted in a very jumbled and incorrect answer.

It was the reading simulations that caused me the most frustration. I have always considered myself a strong reader and so the fact that I was only able to decode about 1-2 sentences before completely giving up made me really discouraged. I could also barely read the sentences in the memory activity before the sentences disappeared. This made me rush to read the passage, which lead to me barely comprehending the meaning and therefore unable to accurately answer the questions asked.

My poor performance on these initial activities discouraged me from continuing with the simulations, as I knew I wouldn’t perform well. I found myself taking many breaks and busied myself with other tasks in order to avoid the writing and math simulations. When I did move on I became easily distracted between modules. I did not want to progress in the simulations because I did not want to be faced with more activities I could not complete. If the dejection I felt after only a few of these activities deterred me from continuing these simulations, I can only begin to image how students with learning disabilities feel everyday in class. My ease with reading and writing have allowed me to fully enjoy those subjects; if I fought everyday to grasp the information has much as I did in these simulations I would be hate going to school. My brother and sister struggle with ADHD and dyslexia respectively. These simulations have provided me an insight into their struggles and have made me understand why class and homework were such a burden.

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Isabella Delmoral

7/11/2017 03:11:57 pm

Hi Lily, I can relate to starting out the simulations confidently. I really believed that with determination and persistence, I could complete the tasks with 100% accuracy. However, I too quickly lost that confidence as I struggled to complete the tasks within the time limit. I found myself doing a lot of guessing, but even then I was wrong. Seeing how you and I quickly felt discouraged as the tasks became more difficult, should hopefully push us to push our students and to boost their confidence. We must find ways to keep them pushing through their work, even when they start to become slightly discouraged. It may be difficult for them to complete each task, but it is not impossible and it is important for us to remember that as their teachers and supporters.

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Brianna Normile

7/9/2017 10:05:00 am

First, I decided to do the visual and auditory simulations for the attention section of the pbs website. The visual simulation was extremely difficult for me to do. At the end, I realized I had only read half of the passage and I had not comprehended any of it. This is why I got none of the questions correct. When I was trying to read, I was too focused on the flashing coming from the background and then was focused on the soccer picture. My mind then started to wonder as I was trying to read the words. This reminded me of when I took the reading subtest on the MTEL. I had to read the passage so many times to remotely understand what the passage was about. I cannot imagine how children feel when they are trying to read with a lot of distractions going on around them. Students need a quiet room with not a lot of moving parts happening at the same time as reading instruction in order for them to understand what is happening in the story.
I thought the audio simulation was even more difficult than the visual one. I could not hear anything the teacher was saying and I was getting frustrated because I knew my picture did not look the way it was supposed to. I find myself saying “I am only going to say the directions once” a lot in my room, but after doing that simulation, I feel like I have to be careful when I use that. It would have been better if there was no one talking in the background.
The next section I chose to focus on was the reading section. I chose this one specifically because I have always struggled with reading in the past. The decoding activity I chose to do first was difficult because I kept having to look back at the key to figure out what I was reading. I did not find this one to be as difficult as the attention ones, but I can understand how children can get frustrated. I’m not sure what support would have helped me through this because this is how children learn to read.
The active memory simulation reminded me of how I read. I cannot retain most of the information the first time, so it was frustrating when I was not able to read it a second time. I think it would have been helpful If I wrote down things I thought were important from the reading so that I could go back and reference them.

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Lindsey Blackman

7/9/2017 12:31:49 pm

I had a similar experience to you with the visual and listening components of the attention section. I also was not able to read the full passage, nor was I able to comprehend it, which was extremely frustrating. I like the connection you made between your experience taking the MTEL and students who get distracted easily. I think it’s important as teachers that we try to relate to our students in anyway possible. I believe being able to “put ourselves in their shoes” will really help us grow as teachers. I also admire that you were able to point out something you do in your classroom, such as only saying you will read the directions once, and relate it to how you felt during the listening simulation. I am curious to find out once you try repeating directions more than once what the benefit will be for your students.

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Haley Alwardi

7/10/2017 05:09:13 pm

Your experience with the MTEL is exactly what I thought of when I did the attention section! I had such a hard time paying attention when reading the passages (especially because I had no interest in the topics). This also reminds me a lot of MCAS. I also totally understand how it is so easy to find yourself saying "Im only going to say this once" because of students who may not be listening. I feel like this helped me so much to put how those students feel into perspective and to remind me to stay patient with them and repeat if they need it.

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Yan Li Xu

7/11/2017 10:09:48 am

Both the attention and reading task reminded me of what it is like to take a standardized test. I have to focus and listen carefully to the teacher to even have a grasp of what is happening. I still couldn't complete the task no matter how hard I try. To me, these tasks felt like tests so how must the students feel facing these struggle everyday? I definitely hope to learn more strategies in this class to help students who faced these challenges.

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Lindsey Blackman

7/9/2017 11:57:20 am

Hello, my name is Lindsey Blackman and I just started the 14-month IESE program. Starting this fall, I will be interning in at 1st grade classroom at Runkle School in Brookline.

When I initially looked around on Misunderstood Minds, I did not think I was going to have that much difficulty with the tasks. To my dismay, I was stumped on almost every task I encountered. I chose to complete the attention and reading sections.

I have struggled with ADHD for many years now, so when watching the attention videos and completing the tasks, I found the distractions to be very relatable. I was frustrated when the visual background kept changing colors and images. I was annoyed because I knew without the distractions I could have answered the questions correctly but instead I only got 1/3 correct. After just the first module attempt, I already felt discouraged. When I moved on to the listening activity, I immediately felt hopeless when the teacher said she was only going to give the directions once. I started off strong but then lost focus with all talking in the background. Moving on to the reading sections, I was a bit more hopeful for myself. Once again, I felt frustrated and pressured for time in each activity. I found the decoding activity to be very time consuming and confusing and eventually began to lose my patience.

If I had more time to complete a majority of the activities I would have been more successful. Also, if the teacher repeated the directions in the listening module I think I would have been able to complete the activity accurately. The elimination of outside interference such as background noise and moving images would have greatly improved my ability to successfully finish the activities.

I am sure a student with limited coping skills would feel a sense of stress, frustration, and confusion if they had to deal with obstacles like these everyday. I can imagine that even going to school knowing there might be a lot of challenges can induce severe anxiety for children. I think students with learning disabilities may constantly feel unsuccessful and defeated, which in turn can cause opposition and misbehavior.

I think one of the biggest things teachers and schools can do to ensure each student is successful is to differentiate instruction based on the needs of each student. Teachers can teach one thing in various ways so students with differing learning styles can understand. For example, for the listening component of the attention section, the teacher could have written out the instructions for students to see in order to help the visual learners. Teachers can explore various comprehension strategies with students who have a difficult time understanding and remembering reading material. If a student knows several ways of doing something, they can figure out which approach works best for them. Although I know it is not possible every time a student needs to do work, I think having a separate area in the classroom or having a student go to another room would help them concentrate at the task at hand. Maybe for large assignments students can seek an alternative location to do their work. I also thinking having students work in small groups or pairs can assist student learning. Teachers can create groups or pairs based on each student’s strengths and weaknesses. In turn, working in groups will not only support learning, but will also promote inclusion and teamwork.

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Caitlin Kelleher

7/9/2017 04:24:24 pm

I agree with you Lindsey! Differentiate instruction is important when working with students with disabilities. I had 13 students in my classroom this past year on IEP and they all had different specific learning accommodations. Every student is different and it's the teachers job to understand how each student learns and to make sure you are delivering the instruction in a way all of the students will understand.

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Lily Montagna

7/10/2017 02:55:08 pm

Lindsey, thanks for sharing from your personal experience! I love that you highlighted different strategies that would have been specifically helpful in supporting your competing the activities and assignments. It seems that there is a lot that teachers can do to improve student confidence and success in the classroom, even simple adjustments to the assignment or the timeframe which is encouraging!

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Haley Alwardi

7/10/2017 05:17:23 pm

I totally agree with your ideas on differentiation. Since Ive been doing ABA work this summer I have seen how much work goes into creating different behavior plans and learning plans for each student in a classroom. But, I have also seen the impact it makes. Although I know that every single student in every single school will get a differentiated education, I think its important for teachers to always have it in their heads that not all students are the same and that we need to find ways to make sure each student is learning.

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Caitlin Kelleher

7/9/2017 03:52:08 pm

One Learning Challenge Link I completed was attention. Students that have attention disabilities have a difficult time staying on task in school. Theses students could be distracted either visually or auditory, which is getting in the way of their work. I had a very hard time completing the challenges for attention. The first activity I completed was the visual activity. I had a hard time trying to read the passage because it kept disappearing. I did the activity a few times until I was able to somewhat understand what the passage was about. The second activity I completed was the auditory activity. I had a very hard time with the auditory piece because I am visual learner and really needed to listen to what the teacher was staying. It didn’t help that other student kept talking while the teacher was explaining the activity and I found myself getting frustrated.

Another Learning Challenge Link I completed was math. I chose to complete the math activities because I have always been a strong math student. I found myself getting frustrated at all of the activities because they seemed like simple activities at first, but ended up being challenging. The first activity I completed was the arithmetic activity. I had a hard time understanding how to use the addition and multiplication table to solve the problems. I was able to solve the problems mentally, but the objective of the activity was to use the two different tables. It wasn’t until the end of the activity till I realized it wasn’t a base ten chart, it was a base six chart. The second activity I completed was the spatial activity. This activity was confusing because there wasn’t a correct answer to the math problem. The third activity I completed was the sequence activity. I found the directions to solve the problems wordy and hard to follow. I ended up doing this activity a few times until I go the correct answer. Overall, it is important for educators to complete these types of activities to understand and help our students who might have an attention, reading, writing, or math disability.

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Lily Montagna

7/10/2017 02:17:21 pm

Caitlin, I was intrigued that you re-did the reading attention activity multiple times. I wish I had thought to do that! I think that speaks to your perseverance, and I wonder if it was because you knew you could do it if you pressed through the distractions several times and focused on the next portion along the way until you were able to complete it. Obviously every student's experience is different, but I think that the awareness of your attention challenge enabled you to come up with a strategy that would help you to be successful. Thinking like a student could be useful in developing new strategies for students, and I think you really demonstrated that through your experience with this activity.

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Haley Alwardi

7/10/2017 05:31:39 pm

The first section that I looked at was the attention section. For me this section put a lot into perspective for me. As someone who has worked at an afterschool program for many years, did Jumpstart, multiple student teaching experiences and am now an ABA. I have worked with many students with many different disabilities and to be able to put myself in their shoes was extremely interesting. When I did the first section with the attention I thought that I would be fine and would not have many issues, but the first activity with the reading was very hard. All I could think about was students who take MCAS. This reminded me a lot of the reading comprehension when I was in Elementary school. Even as a student with no learning disabilities I had a very hard time paying attention to this portion of the test. The second activity, the puzzle was very hard for me. Once all of the students began talking I completely lost what the teacher was saying. There have been so many times when I have heard teachers saying/ I used to say, “You need to listen, I am only going to say these directions once.” Over the past four years at Wheelock I’ve learned that this cannot happen in schools. Some of these students need to hear directions multiple times before they can complete a task.
The second section I decided to look at was the reading. This related a lot to the attention section. The second activity, which was the memory activity was very hard for me to do. First off, I was reading something that I had no interest in, second, because I was not interested it was not absorbing into my mind and by the time I could think about it the line was disappearing. This led to having a hard time answering the questions. The first activity, which was the decoding activity was also very hard. I had to keep looking at the key to figure out what the passage said. This made me feel like I was reading a foreign language. This made me really think about kids who have dyslexia and have a hard time reading what is put in front of them.

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Erin Bruce

7/10/2017 07:15:27 pm

I see the resemblance to the MCAS for sure. There are a lot of institutionalized problems with standardized exams, of course, but as you said -- it is even more difficult for students needing accommodations. For us, this was a leisurely activity that we are participating in to engage with our colleagues before returning to normal life. But for students with learning disabilities, it is so much more. Understanding the high-stakes nature of MCAS while desperately trying to perform favorable is not an easy task. Thanks for mentioning this important point!

Also, I thought some of the accommodations you alluded to were really insightful. For example, giving kids reading assignments that align with their interests. It sounds so simple, but I know it makes all the difference struggling to engage with text.

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Lily Montagna

7/10/2017 06:40:02 pm

While doing one of the “attention” simulation activities that focused on reading comprehension, I was shocked to only make it through the first sentence of the text before suddenly the screen went blank. I couldn’t believe that I wasn’t allowed to finish! “I guess that would have been ‘time’s up’ if this were an in-class activity,” I thought, starting to imagine what it would be like if that were a constant problem for me in the classroom. How quickly would I get behind in my work? I also realized that what allowed me to get through even just that one sentence was the determination to be as focused as possible. My own awareness that “focus” was going to be a problem in this particular situation was helpful to an extent. Between extra time for the task and increased awareness of one’s own challenges, I wonder if that would have provided enough support for a student in my shoes to feel the work was manageable.

I was curious to check out the math section of the website because I know that so many students across the board are afraid of math or don’t consider themselves good at it. I engaged in one math problem that simulated what it would be like to go through a multi-step math problem as someone with a learning disability. It required me to keep several parts of the problem in my head while simultaneously computing others. I wished that I would have had some scrap paper to write out the steps on along the way and wondered if some sort of a graphic organizer would have been helpful as well to going through each step of the problem.

I came away from the “mathematics” section with a few questions. How do we test students for higher levels or abilities of mathematical computing without pushing them into their panic zone?

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Erin Bruce

7/10/2017 07:19:43 pm

I was wondering about the necessary accommodations for attention disorders as well. Obviously, extra time is vital (as you mentioned); but what else can teachers provide to ensure success for their students? While a lot of accommodations are suggested in IEP meetings and in other meetings with SpEd staff, I can't help but feel like I should have more ideas up my sleeve for the inevitable time when my students are struggling with these very issues.

I also checked out the mathematics section-- I like your ending question a lot and I think it inspires meaningful conversation regarding our assessment methods. Personally, I think that I have a pretty good grasp on this topic for 'typical' students, but I would be interested to see how the methods might change when focusing primarily on special education.

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Caitlin Worthen

7/10/2017 08:36:41 pm

I agree that having a time limit on completing a task can be completely daunting and not beneficial for some students. Some students get so wrapped up on finishing on time, that they don’t retain any of the information. Some students have so much anxiety about the time limit, that they can’t even focus on the questions given to them!

I also agree that having scrap paper or even manipulatives, would be beneficial for the math questions given. I think scrap paper and manipulatives are an aid for helping a student understand the content more fully too, and it shouldn’t just be given for students who are struggling.

Your question at the end was very insightful, and I would like answers for that too! If I were to answer that question, I would say not to push the student too much. Make sure that they are being tested at a level that isn’t easy for them but isn’t overwhelming either.

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Erin Bruce

7/10/2017 07:09:53 pm

In a previous course, I reviewed the reading and writing portions of Misunderstood Minds. As such, this time I chose to review the attention and mathematics pages. Beginning with the attention simulation, I tried so hard to not let the various distractions take away from my comprehension of the text. It was impossible with the time limit. I got every single comprehension question incorrect and it left me feeling discouraged. I even re-took the comprehension quiz, and I still failed. If I were a student in elementary school with an attention deficit disorder, I am unsure that any coping skills would help the stress and disappointment that I felt. However, hopefully this would be an issue addressed by my teachers, and accommodations could be provided (starting with more time for activities, but certainly more daily changes would be necessary).

The math portion of this site was wildly frustrating. I majored in mathematics in undergrad, so I thought that this would come naturally. I thought multi-step problems would be no problem at all... Boy, was I wrong. In the context of a classroom where some learners are advanced and in need of an extension activity, these problems would be great. However, for many students, this activity is likely too precarious-- particularly those with issues processing or computing.

Looking forward to hearing the thoughts of others!

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Caitlin Worthen

7/10/2017 08:21:21 pm

I agree with you, Erin! I thought that it was extremely frustrating for a college graduate to have challenges for these experiments. I would hope too, that students with ADD would have the support they need. I also think it is important for teachers to always be observing students because many children can have ADD symptoms, but not be diagnosed.

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Caitlin Worthen

7/10/2017 08:14:33 pm

I think that it is such a great idea for Misunderstood Minds to have these activities for people to do because it changes your perspective on what struggling students have to go through. Some people just don’t get how students can struggle with certain content areas, but these activities will change people’s minds on what it is like to struggle with a confusing question or activity.

For the “attention” activities, I was doing well in the beginning and then I slowly couldn’t pay attention because either students were talking or the screen kept changing when I was reading. The sad part was that I was actually interested in the reading and the game that I was playing, but I had many distracting factors. I think it would have helped if the teacher had better classroom management for the game activity. Clearly there were a lot of students talking, and that could be very distracting for students, and attention could be lost. For the reading activity, I could read a few sentences, but I didn’t understand what the story was telling us. I think this is an issue that we need to be aware of in our schools today. Many students can be reading or doing their work, but they don’t fully understand what the content means. This reminds me of when I had to read long passages out loud, when I was in Elementary School. I was so distracted by how I was talking in front of everyone, that I lost my attention on what was actually going on in the novel. I think it is important to assess students work and make sure there are no distractions for the student to fail.

With the “reading” activities, it was easy for me because I have prior knowledge on the structure of words. But, what if a student doesn’t have this prior knowledge? This can certainly be a struggle for them, and having one on one support is necessary for students who are struggling with decoding. When I had to do the memory game, I didn’t even want to read after the first sentence of the paragraph because of how confusing it was. I think it is important for teachers to choose passages that are interesting and easy to follow along. If the passages aren't easy to follow, teachers should come up with techniques to tell their students on how to read passages. For instance, highlighting and taking notes may be very helpful for reading long paragraphs with lots of content.

When doing activities like this in the classroom, students with limited coping skills may experience a lot different things. They may experience frustration, anxiety, lowered self-esteem, and sadness. When students experience these feelings, they may not have the skills or knowledge to self monitor themselves. It is our job, as educators, to make sure that our students don’t have these feelings while they are learning. Teachers need to make accommodations for their students, because not all students learn the same way. I think it is important to go over everything step-by-step. Teachers should never assume that students have background knowledge on decoding or different skills for math. It is important to go over every little detail of something, even if that means taking extra time. Teachers also need to make sure that their classroom is free of distractions, and grant extra time and attention for students who have a low attention span.

One thing I wondered was, what if there were students who had none of these issues? Would they become bored or distracted from the accommodations given in the classroom?

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Yan Li Xu

7/11/2017 09:24:28 am

Hello, my name is Yan Li Xu. I just started the IESE program and I will be interning at the Baldwin School in Cambridge, Ma this fall. For this blog, I chose to complete the attention and reading section of the Misunderstood Minds.

When I started each task of the attention section, I started with the intention of finishing the task. However, as it progress; I had a difficult time trying to complete the task. In the audio section, I had an even harder time trying to complete the task. Other student’s conversation was preventing me from listening to what the teacher said and the teacher said she would only repeat it once made it more difficult. It felt easier to just give up than trying to complete the task at all. I think it is important to repeat things to make sure all the students understand and the teacher should pause sometimes to make sure everyone is at the same step.

When I started on the Reading section task, I was expecting it to be difficult. I was worried I need to memorize the translation key. Even with the translation key, it took me a long time to complete the task. If there was a time limit on the task, I would not be able to complete the whole section. I had to keep looking back at the translation key to figure out what I was reading. The second reading task reminded me what it was like to take a standardized test. I always have to go back to reading section to find the answer. However, I couldn’t even go back to the reading to find my answer.

From doing these tasks, I understand more about the struggles students with attention and reading disorder faces. Parents and teachers collaboration is important in helping children with these challenges. However, a question that is bothering me is what happens if parent/guardian does not want to work with the teacher or isn’t as available to talk with teacher regarding the student? What can a teacher do to help reinforce the strategies that helped the students at school into the home environment?

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Isabella Delmoral

7/11/2017 03:06:37 pm

Hi Yan Li Xu, I also chose the Attention and Reading articles to read about. So, I completely understand your experience with the simulations. They were very difficult and it was almost impossible to complete the tasks, no matter how hard one tried. It really makes me think about how students with attention difficulties are experiencing our same struggles in the simulations, but every moment of every day. It makes sense how students with such difficulties may need extra time on assignments and exams. Unfortunately, all we can do as teachers is to support our students, since we cannot change how their brains are wired. Even if our students’ parents are less involved in supporting their difficulties, all we can do as teachers is try our best at supporting our students in the classroom.

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Isabella Delmoral

7/11/2017 02:58:17 pm

I was interested in reading the Attention and Reading articles to learn more about the difficulties of students that have difficulty with attention. It was interesting to learn from each article, since I have little experience with students that suffer with this problem and would like to learn more about it. I learned about how the brain is responsible for several components, which affect our attention and focus. I also learned about how reading can be difficult, when the brain is trying to do so many things at once. If reading and focusing can be difficult for someone like me, it is so much more difficult for a student who suffers from something, such as ADHD.

Trying out the exercises with each difficulty that comes with ADHD was very eye opening, especially as a teacher. It was sometimes frustrating to do the exercises, whether the words were disappearing, loud noises, distractions, etc., but it really put things into perspective for me. I now have a better understanding of how difficult it must be for a student with ADHD to experience so many distractions and trouble focusing on what is important all day long, especially at school. Seeing how difficult it was to complete the tasks in each simulation, makes me want to be more patient, considerate, and attentive as a teacher. I also wish that all teachers could try the simulations out because it would help them become more aware of their students experiences. Knowing what students experience help inform how teachers instruct their students. Students with ADHD need teachers to be more sensitive and aware of their needs in order to succeed in school.

I can understand how several students with ADHD may act out during school. It must be very frustrating for them to learn and have expected behavior in school, when their brains are not making anything easier for them. Most students, especially young ones, do not usually have the proper skills to cope with their difficulties and so they may respond with negative or unexpected behavior. Students like this need extra support in the classroom. They need to be reminded of expectations constantly and need to be praised for their positive choices. Students with ADHD may need help from a friend or even a teacher when completing a task. Even the smallest things will help students, which suffer from difficulty with attention, succeed in school.

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Eilish

8/8/2017 03:27:15 pm

Hi Isabella,
I agree, I think that any and all teachers should take advantage of these stimulations. They truly do provide a different lens into the differences amongst students.

How do you feel teachers could be more sensitive to children with ADHD? Do you think that this would look different at different ages?

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Sara Cane

7/11/2017 10:25:51 pm

When exploring the Misunderstood Minds webpage, I chose to examine the attention and reading categories. I was extremely frustrated while performing these activates and discourage when unable to get the correct answer or even any answer.
For the attention piece, I was particularly unaware of how severe auditory distractions can be. Schools are not typically quiet places and there are countless little sounds going on at all times. I would think it would be important if there is a child in the classroom with this disability to have headphones, ear plugs, or a sound proof area where they can separate themselves from the noise and distractions. I was unsuccessful in completing majority of the activities and from a child’s point of view can see the willingness to give up.

Second, I examined the reading portion of the webpage. The decoding activity felt impossible and took an extensive amount of time to solve. For students with issues related to reading I would provide auditory options for them to listen to in order for them to obtain the information they cannot through text. If a child in your class has a disability such as this it would be important to have someone who is able to read directions orally.

A student with limited coping skills would feel ashamed and embarrassed when facing these struggles. I imagine that they would feel useless and not good enough which would eventually lead to failure. I think it would be hard for them to ask for help because of the humiliation they are experiencing. Acting out and behavioral issues would eventually take place because they are unable to do the work. We must notice the signs and advocate for these struggling students to ensure their success.

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Eilish

8/8/2017 03:32:57 pm

Hi Sara,
I also did the auditory attention stimulation. And I agree, classrooms and schools are typically loud and busy. However, it is hard to comprehend how much it impacts a student with attention difficulties until you have to truly go through it yourself. I think that as teachers we become masters at ignoring the background noise, but we've also had years of practice and most likely do not have ADHD or at least have it under control.

I think it is a very difficult and unrealistic expectation to have a quiet classroom with no one calling out, talking over each other, etc. However, I do think that there are small accommodations that can be made to support students who have a difficult time canceling out the background noise, such as noise canceling headphones with the directions read through the headphones. This way the directions can be repeated as many times as they need, without having the teacher repeat themselves, the student is not distracted by outside noise, and they are still completing the task that is expected.

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Eilish Reynolds

8/8/2017 03:23:14 pm

I chose to focus in on Attention first, the visual activity and the Math Spacial Activity. Here were my findings:

Attention First Hand- Visual Activity: Passage with moving pictures and extreme lighting differences. I was frustrated that I couldn’t read beyond the second line, and even though I was able to read the first two lines, I couldn’t remember or comprehend anything I had read. If the movement of the pictures and lighting was not there, I probably would have been able to focus more on the content of the passage. A student with limited coping skills to deal with attention issues might feel frustrated that they are unable to focus and understand the instructions, content, etc because of how easily distracted they are. The insights I would share is to ensure that students with attention difficulties are provided shorter assignments, more individualized or small group instruction and work time, limit the amount of output there is in the room, and provide them opportunities to get space away from the static that is in a classroom.

Math First Hand— Spacial Activity: At first I didn't understand how the original cube shape could turn into shape A (a large hexagon with a small hexagon inside and 6 lines connecting the corners). Then I took a second look at the cube and did not see a cube. I saw a hexagon with one line down the middle, going north to south, a second line going from north west to south east, and a third line going from north east to south west. Now my mind is playing tricks on me and I can’t determine what shape I see more of, the cube or the sliced hexagon. It is eye-opening to see the different perspectives and realize that many of my students may see a different perspective from myself and each other. Therefore, it is important that when working with and learning about 3D shapes, that we use real life objects that represent the shapes rather than drawings that could or potentially could not be identified as the 3D shape we are hoping to portray.

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